


Love Lasts After the Dreams

by DjDangerLove



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Carlos Reyes will always give TK Strand a hug, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, M/M, Sleepwalking, TK Strand Needs A Hug, TK's yellow hoodie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DjDangerLove/pseuds/DjDangerLove
Summary: TK ends up sleepwalking at Carlos' apartment. Unfortunately, waking up disoriented feels a lot like coming down from a high but Carlos is there to love TK through it.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 16
Kudos: 322





	Love Lasts After the Dreams

Rain poured heavy from Austin’s night sky, pelting the windows in Carlos’ apartment pushing a steady thrum throughout the room. The two of them sat curled together on the couch, TK slotted under Carlos’ arm and tucked into a fleece throw as an episode of _Chopped_ played on the TV. 

He felt TK flinch at the first crack of lightning flickering through the windows and soothed him by running his hand slowly up and down the blanket over his arm. Pressing a kiss to the crown of his head hidden by the hood of his pullover, Carlos asked, “Are you still cold?”

As if reminded of the chill, TK burrowed himself further into Carlos’ side with a groan. “It feels like I’ll never be warm again.”

Three hours ago, Carlos had picked TK up from the hospital after having been locked in a walk-in freezer on a call with a disgruntled employee at a meat packing plant. Owen had been the one to call him, assuring him that TK would be fine as long as the police officer brought TK’s yellow hoodie to him and kept him warm tonight. If he coughed into the phone at the insinuating tone like he was choking on his own spit, he didn’t think Owen would tell anyone. 

“I know a couple better ways we could warm you up.”

TK covered his mouth with a sleeve covered hand and hummed into it. “What do you suggest?”

“Well…” Carlos lingered as if deep in thought. “I could make you the Reyes’ famous hot chocolate.”

TK snorted. “Famous, huh? How come I haven’t heard of it before?”

“You’re an uncultured city boy, that’s why,” he teased, happily accepting the playful pinch to his stomach he got for it. “But the recipe calls for a splash of bourbon, so let’s cross that one out.”

He felt TK’s arms tighten around him for a split second, knowing how appreciative the man was for Carlos’ ability to support his sobriety while not treating the topic like the plague. 

“What else you got, Officer Reyes?”

Carlos wrapped both arms around his boyfriend and dropped a kiss to his shoulder, “I do have this _burning_ desire to show you how much I love you. Think that’ll work?”

“Only one way to find out.”

——————

Carlos pulled back from their kiss when TK’s knees hit the mattress but leaned in for another one at the sight of TK's hair fanned out in every direction from where Carlos’ fingers had ran through it on the way up the stairs and the drowsy way the slightly smaller man smiled up at him as he sat on the bed.

He tugged gently at TK’s sweatpants at the thigh and said, “Let me go lock up for the night while you get rid of these, huh?”

“Hurry back.”

Carlos did, taking the stairs a bit too quick in his socks and nearly spilling down them had it not been for the handrail. He checked the front door deadbolt then the door to the back patio before taking the stairs back up two at a time. 

He clipped the doorframe with his shoulder when he rounded the entrance to his bedroom and kicked the door closed, but his frenzied movements came to a halt at the sight of TK on his bed. The man, shed of his sweatpants, clad only in black boxers and a bright yellow hoodie, was laid back on the bed, socked feet still on the floor and dead asleep.

Carlos stifled a laugh behind a bit lip before pulling his t-shirt over his head and crawling onto the bed to hover over his boyfriend. He ran a gentle hand up and down his side while calling his name.

TK roused himself enough to grin up at Carlos with a, “You’re back” around a slow yawn. 

“And you’re asleep. C’mon, tiger. Up here,” he said, as they both shuffled up the bed and under the covers. Tk rolled towards him, lazily kissing Carlos down the neck before resting his forehead there. 

“ ‘los?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you show me how much you love me in the morning? I’m really tired.”

Carlos’ whole body shook with the laugh that escaped him, jostling TK in the process, but he wrapped his arms around him when he wiggled to get away. “There will never be a morning I won’t do that, baby. Go to sleep.”

—————

Carlos woke to the feeling of being less sleep warm than usual and the sound of the shower running. Feeling his arms empty, he reached out to where TK usually sprawled himself but was met with cold, rumpled sheets. Blinking awake, he squinted against what should be bright sunlight but found himself in the pitch dark except for the light of the digital clock on the bedside table and the light coming from under the door to the en suite bathroom. 

He rubbed at his eyes as he sat up and a glance at the clock told him it was twenty-one minutes past three in the morning which made no sense at all considering both of them had tomorrow off. So why would TK be in the shower?

“TK?” He called, pushing the sheets back and standing from the bed. He crossed the room in two quick strides and knocked on the door. “TK? Are you okay?”

When no response came, he pressed his ear to the door and tried not to panic when he couldn’t hear anything but the sound of the water running. “Hey!” He pounded his fist on the door, but still received nothing. 

Twisting the knob, he felt his breath catch in relief at it turning all the way and pushed the door open to a sight that sent the last little bit of drowsiness out of his system. 

“Uh, babe? What are you doing?” Carlos eased forward, because TK was standing stock still under the steaming shower head still dressed in his hoodie, boxers, and socks. “TK?”

Going to stand by the shower, he pulled the glass door open and felt his heart race at the fact that TK was just standing there, eyes open but not responding to anything. He reached out to the drenched shoulder of TK’s hoodie and gently shook it. “Ty, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

TK’s body swayed with the nudge Carlos gave him but he didn’t do much else. Carlos leaned in a bit further to turn off the water and caught sight of the glazed over look in TK’s eyes and briefly recalled a couple of years ago when he was called out to a robbery in progress only to find that it was the woman’s husband sleepwalking downstairs. He was standing in the kitchen making a sandwich, glazed eyes open, but not responding to anything. Grace had made the suggestion for the man’s wife to gently get him back to bed and trying not to wake him up so as not to disorient him. 

“Okay, Tiger. Sleepwalking. In the shower. That’s what you’re doing, huh?” Carlos let out a relived chuckle at the situation and left TK standing there soaking wet so he could grab a towel from the linen closet. 

He grabbed two, dropping one on the closed toilet lid and tossing the other over the open door of the shower until he could get TK out his wet clothes. “Alright, we’re gonna do this real slow,” he said, keeping his voice calm and quiet so as to hopefully not wake the man but in case he did, he’d be able to hear him and understand what was happening. 

He reached out and tugged at the bottom of the hoodie with a, “Let’s start with this, ok?” and tugged it up enough so that he could work TK’s arms through the sleeves. Once that was finished he pulled it over the man’s head in one fluid motion, reaching out a steadying hand when his boyfriend swayed dangerously. 

“Easy. Easy,” he murmured, pausing to see if the man would wake but dropped the hoodie on the shower floor when he just continued to stand there. He moved on to the boxers, tugging them down to his ankles and rubbing at the man’s calf as he explained, “We’re gonna step out of these now, okay? We’ll start with the left foot. Up and at ‘em,” he encouraged as he lifted the man’s foot just enough to slip the material under it, glad when the man kept his balance. He made quick work of the right in the same way and then stood back up. 

He took a mental picture of his boyfriend standing naked in his shower in only wet socks, because as scared as he had been upon entering the bathroom, he couldn’t help finding it a bit funny now. “How about we get out now, huh? Does that sound good?” He asked, even though he gently tugged on TK’s arm to get him to step out of the shower, helping him over the lip so he didn’t trip.

“Let’s sit for a minute, yeah? Get our bearings and get these socks off.”

He deposited TK onto the towel covering the closed toilet seat and the man just sat there staring right past him as he crouched down to remove the socks. He tossed them in the shower with the discarded hoodie and boxers and reached for the other towel. 

“I’m going to dry you off now, okay?” Carlos announced, still keeping up a quite stream of reassurances in case the man suddenly woke. He took up the corner of the towel and ran it along TK’s shoulders and arms, but water droplets kept running from his hair down onto his back and shoulders so Carlos took the towel and started to gently run it through the wet strands.

It was when Carlos moved his hand back and forth across the top of his head that TK jerked underneath him, back colliding with the toilet tank and gasping for breath. Carlos dropped the towel to the floor, revealing TK’s panicked expression, now clearly wide awake and confused beyond comprehension. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Carlos said, reaching out and placing steady hands on damp shoulders. “It’s okay, baby. It’s alright. Just breathe. I promise it’s okay.”

TK greedily gasped for air, glancing all around the bathroom and then down at himself. “Why…why am I naked? Where’s my clo- why am I wet? What-“

“Shh, shh,” Carlos hushed him softly and moved his hands up to cup his jaw. “Look at me, TK. You’re alright. I found you sleepwalking…well, more like sleep-standing in the shower a few minutes ago.”

“S-sleepwalking?” TK parroted back, brow adorably furrowing at the word. 

“Yeah, scared the hell out of me at first if I’m being honest, but you’re okay. You were standing there in your clothes, so I turned the shower off and took them off. I think they recommend getting a person back to bed without waking them, so that’s what I was trying to do, but I had to get you dry first. I was running the towel through your hair when you woke up just now.” 

TK blinked at him, then the clothes sitting drenched in the shower stall, then back at Carlos. “I-…I don’t remember… I just-…”

“It’s alright, TK. I promise. There’s nothing to freak out over. You’re okay,” Carlos smiled up at him before leaning forward and kissing his forehead. He let his lips linger there a second or two longer than normal when he felt TK fidget anxiously underneath him. “Let’s finish getting you dry and into some more clothes and we’ll go back to bed, alright?”

TK didn’t give any type of response except a slight nod of his head, even going so far as to let Carlos run the towel through his hair and over his body to dry him off without moving unless prompted to. He stayed that way until Carlos came back into the bathroom with a pair for dry boxers, sweatpants and one of his long sleeve APD shirts. 

“Hey, talk to me,” Carlos encouraged, dropping the stack of clothes near the sink and pulling TK’s head to rest on his stomach while rubbing his bare back as he continued to sit. 

“I’m okay. I just… feel …weird. Disoriented,” TK mumbled into Carlos’ shirt before shaking himself and standing up. He reached for the boxers on the counter and slid them on. “I used to sleepwalk as a kid a couple of times. It hasn’t happened in years like since I was ten or eleven, I think? I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

TK shrugged while pulling on the sweatpants. “It freaked my parents out. You said it scared you. I’m sorry for that.”

Carlos watched TK put on his shirt, feeling his heart clench at the way the sleeves were a bit too long and how TK wrapped his fingers in the excess in anxious energy. Carlos stepped forward and enveloped him in a hug, squeezing just a bit harder at the feeling of tremors running though the slightly smaller man. “What are you so anxious about, babe?” 

TK tucked his face into the crook of Carlos’ neck and wrapped his arms around his waist. “Waking up like that…not knowing what was happening or how I got there…it felt like…” he trailed off, turning his face into Carlos’ shoulder and hugging him tighter. He continued when Carlos squeezed him back. “It felt like waking up after using and I thought…for a second I thought I messed up.”

Carlos gave a sympathetic hum around a,”No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong,” and kissed the top of his head. “I’m sorry you woke up before I could get you back to bed.”

“It’s okay. Thank you for taking care of me, though. For trying to get me there.” 

“Always. How about we get there now together?” 

—————

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Carlos asked once the two of them were settled under the bedsheets for the second time that night. “You still seemed worried.”

“No, yeah I mean I’m okay, it’s just…” TK reached out and intertwined his hand with Carlos’ where they laid facing each other. “What if it happens again? Or keeps happening?”

Carlos frowned. “Then I’ll do a better job of getting you back to bed before you wake up and if I can’t then I’ll at least assure you that you didn’t use before anything else. I’m just glad your brain thought you were still cold enough to need a hot shower rather than taking a header down the stairs or something.”

“That’s what I mean, Carlos. I don’t…I don’t like not knowing what I’m gonna do if I go to sleep.”

“Ty, you said so yourself, this hasn’t happened since you were a kid. You had a hell of a day yesterday and stress can cause sleepwalking. This doesn’t mean it’s going to keep happening. It’s probably just a one time thing.”

TK squeezed his hand before flopping onto his back. “But what if it isn’t?”

“Then I’ll baby-proof the apartment.”

“Stop it!” TK groaned, even though he tried to stop himself from grinning. “I’m being serious.”

Carlos rolled until he was propped up on his elbow hovering over his boyfriend. “So am I. I’ll get a gate for the stairs, put the kitchen knives in the top cupboards, get locks for the doors that are hard to open even when you’re awake.”

He smiled down at him, kissing reassurance to his lips, his cheek, his neck, before pulling back. “If it does keep happening, we’ll get an expert opinion. Go to a specialist. We’ll figure it out, Ty. You don’t need to worry.”

TK breathed deeply, reached out and brushed him thumb across Carlos’ cheek above him. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“The best at what?” Carlos’ teased, nipping at TK’s hand on his face.

TK didn’t rise to the arousal, instead he pulled Carlos down on top of him, hugging him close. “The best at taking care of me. At loving me. At making me love myself.”

“Well, damn,” Carlos said, resting his chin on TK’s chest and looking up at him “If I’m already the best at those things, what am I going to work on for the rest of my life? I had kind of already decided that those three things were it.”

He felt TK’s breath stall underneath him and smirked at him when wide green eyes met his. 

“The rest of your life?”

“Yeah.”

“Well…” TK rubbed at Carlos’ back, slow and gentle as he thought of a response. He caught brown eyes with his and grinned. “You could start working on a good non-alcoholic substitute for the bourbon in the famous Reyes hot chocolate.”

Carlos pressed his laugh into TK’s chest before crawling up to kiss him properly. “It’s the first thing I’ll do in the morning.”

“No, it isn’t.”

Carlos leaned back, confused at how quick TK was to respond. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I definitely remember you promising to show me how much you love me before I fell asleep.”

“Ah, you’re right. I did promise that and that’s a promise I will never break.”


End file.
